Bipartisan legislation that creates the Healthy Soils Initiative and commits to improved coordination between the Illinois Department of Agriculture and Soil and Water Conservation Districts was signed into law.

Many Illinois farmers, including myself, are eagerly waiting to see how this year’s crop turns out. That’s the name of the game when it comes to farming: You make the best management decisions you can, learn from previous harvests and look to improve next year’s results.

Farmers were encouraged to give cover crops a try at the Marshall-Putnam Farm Bureau Nutrient Loss Stewardship Field Day.

A new constructed wetland was showcased during the recent Vermilion Headwaters Watershed field tour in Livingston County. The constructed wetland was installed in August 2018 on Fulton Farms farmland and is designed to capture and remove nutrients from tile drainage.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded a $156,000 Section 604B Clean Water Act grant to American Farmland Trust for advancing water quality goals in Illinois’ Vermilion Headwaters Watershed.

Implementation of cover crops will play a major role in reaching the goals established by the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and a farm organization is helping to deliver that message directly to farmers this summer.